Long before the Vikings and the NFL arrived in Minneapolis in 1961, I’m told this town belonged to the Gophers. They were in fact national champions in 1961, finishing 8-2, which included a trip to the Rose Bowl vs. Washington. That year, Sandy Stevens was the quarterback. He was a special player, the first Black All-American […]
Gophers/College
Sports: a space for local and national sports news, with emphasis on stories pertaining to African Americans.
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‘Coach Whay’ now knows what she wants
Second-year Gophers coach Lindsay Whalen offers a pre-season assessment.
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Gophers stay undefeated with victory over Maryland
The University of Minnesota football team, ranked No. 13 and undefeated (8-0), scored a 52-10 Big Ten victory Oct. 26 against Maryland.
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Season-ending injury dashes preseason high hopes
The Macalester women’s volleyball team had high hopes for the season but are off to a rough start.
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Kevin Warren BIG-bound
Vikings COO Kevin Warren will be the Big Ten Conference commissioner come September — the first African American to lead any Power Five conference.
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The sorry state of softball diversity
According to NCAA student-athlete demographics, the racial composition of college softball hasn’t changed much in over a decade.
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Black scholars find fresh career insights at Final Four
The MSR spoke to three 2019 Rhoden Fellows Class about their first-hand journalism experience at the NCAA in Minneapolis.
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Cavaliers go overtime for redemption
The Virginia Cavaliers will never forget Minneapolis where they became champions of men’s college basketball.
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Final Four visitor’s guide misses diversity mark
The MLOC and Meet Minneapolis, the city’s visitors and convention bureau, were asked if any Black-owned businesses are included in this year’s Final Four visitor’s guide. Spokespersons from both organizations said they didn’t think so.
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Welcome: Auburn, Virginia, Texas Tech and Michigan State!
Thanks, Michigan State, for destroying millions of basketball fans’ bracket and pools, and denying the most dynamic circus-like story in all of basketball from reaching the games marquee event!
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Minnesota women’s hockey on a roll
Women’s hockey dominated this reporter’s attention last weekend. Minnesota (31-5-1) defeated Princeton 5-2 last Saturday at Ridder Arena to advance to the program’s 14th Frozen Four appearance. The Gophers will play Cornell in the first of two semifinals Friday at Hamden, Conn.
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NCAA selection committee still hard at work as tournaments begin
The 10-member NCAA men’s basketball tournament selection committee, composed of Division I athletic directors and conference commissioners, don’t select the four finalists that will compete during the first weekend of April for the national championship. But earlier this week they did select the 68-team field. “We put in a great field,” Stanford AD Bernard Muir […]
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Following that long winding road to the Final Four
For the last couple of weeks, this columnist instead followed other roads to that other tournament — the women’s NCAA Final Four that also is held the same weekend in Tampa.
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Gophers defeat Louisville in NCAA opener 86-76
Freshman guard Gabe Kalscheur scored a game-high 24 points Thursday, including 15 on three-pointers, to lead the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team to an 86-76 victory…
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All roads now lead to Minneapolis!
So let the journey begin: It’s called March Madness. The men’s field of 68 teams begins this week with the challenge of who can win six games and capture a national championship.
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Gopher recruit’s Senior Night not quite what he’d expected
Senior Night for a particular sport season’s final home game, whether high school or college, is never void of emotion. Only the player’s and the team’s actual last game of the season is more emotional because of its finality. Jarvis Johnson is a Minneapolis native and a 2015 De La Salle High School graduate. He […]
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Former prep stars contributing to Gophers
This week’s photo focus is on former metro-area prep basketball stars Amir Coffey (Hopkins), Kenisha Bell (Bloomington Kennedy), and Gabe Kalscheur (DeLaSalle)
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A salute to the U of M’s ‘elite six’
Senior day is long over. So is a 14-year Gopher football team’s losing streak against the University of Wisconsin and being the underdog at Quick Lane Bowl game in Detroit, Michigan.
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Hamline freshman guard steps up
Chan’el Anderson-Manning didn’t expect to be a regular in her first collegiate basketball season. Neither did her coach, but both individuals seem fine with the unexpected results
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Gophers on the brink
When the NCAA Men’s Final Four is in your home city, it’s obviously important to be in contention.